Elon Musk celebrates Tesla Model S record-setting mileage trip

Elon Musk's Tesla vehicles are winning praise for innovative tech and overall design, but mileage (will it run out of juice?) is still the major concern for many electric car newbies.

But some of those concerns are getting erased in the wake of a new driving record set by a team driving a Model S in Italy.

Driving at around 24 miles per hour, the Tesla driver was able to drive 669.83 miles (1,078 kilometers) on a single charge.

And while the record claim doesn't mention being monitored and verified by an independent officiating organization, none other than Musk himself weighed in with congratulations.

"Officially verified as the first production electric car to exceed 1000km on a single charge!" wrote Musk on Twitter on Saturday. "Congratulations Tesla Owners Italia!!"

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Another way to put this record is that you could drive from New York to Detroit in a Tesla on a single charge (actually, a litter farther than that).

On Tesla's website, you can calculate the range of various models based on a number of conditions (weather, speed, etc.). But according to Tesla's site, its Model S 100D can travel at least 514 miles driving at 45 miles per hour. That's roughly in the same range as many similarly sized, gasoline-powered cars.

But since no one is likely to drive 24 miles per hour during their entire trip, that nearly 700 mile range recorded by the Tesla in Italy isn't a realistic expectation for most drivers.

Nevertheless, it's still a huge number that'll win over some still wondering if they can truly depend on electric vehicles to get them to their destination.